Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31792811›Full record

ArticleJournal of cancer survivorship : research and practice2020

Association between polypharmacy and health-related quality of life among cancer survivors in the United States.

Zachary R Babcock, Stephen J Kogut, Ami Vyas

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 27% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

18 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Music Therapy Versus Cognitive Behavioral Therapy via Telehealth for Anxiety in Survivors of Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2026
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  7. Caregiving responsibility and psychological distress among community-dwelling cancer survivors in the United States.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Health-related quality of life and use of medication with anticholinergic activity in patients with multiple myeloma.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2023
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  15. The effect of polypharmacy on quality of life in adult patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in the United States.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2022
    Observational
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Zachary R BabcockHealth Outcomes, Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island, 7 Greenhouse Rd, Kingston, RI, 02881, USA. zack.heor@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0002-9161-3579
Stephen J KogutHealth Outcomes, Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island, 7 Greenhouse Rd, Kingston, RI, 02881, USA.
Ami VyasHealth Outcomes, Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island, 7 Greenhouse Rd, Kingston, RI, 02881, USA.
University of Rhode Island · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposePolypharmacy (PP) is present in many cancer survivors and may lead to lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The study's objective was to evaluate the association between PP and HRQoL among cancer survivors in the US.

methodsA cross-sectional analysis of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) was conducted. Our analytic sample included all adult patients with cancer, during even years 2008-2014. PP was defined as reported use of five or more unique therapeutic classes of prescription medications. The MEPS measured HRQoL using the Short Form 12-Item Health Survey Version 2 (SF-12v2) physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores. Ordinary least squares regressions were used to assess associations between PP and HRQoL controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical factors.

resultsPP was prevalent among 44.4% of 10.1 million cancer survivors per calendar year (on average) for years 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014. The mean adjusted PCS score for cancer survivors with PP was 35.8 points, which was significantly lower compared with cancer survivors without PP (39.5) by 3.7 points (p value < .0001). Conversely, the mean adjusted MCS scores were not significantly lower in cancer survivors with PP compared with cancer survivors without PP (44.9 versus 45.4, p value = 0.3145).

conclusionsPP was prevalent in 44.4% of cancer survivors and was associated with significantly poorer physical HRQoL than reported in their counterparts without PP. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: PP should be examined closely among cancer survivors because of increased association with poorer physical HRQoL.

Indexed as

PolypharmacyAdolescentAdultAgedCancer SurvivorsCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeoplasmsQuality of LifeUnited StatesYoung AdultCancer survivorsHealth-related quality of lifeMedical Expenditure Panel SurveyPolypharmacy

Identifiers

PMID31792811
OpenAlexW2953651895

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.